The present invention relates to a coin discriminating apparatus and, in particular, to a coin discriminating apparatus for accurately discriminating a counterfeit coin even when optical data acquired from the counterfeit coin such as diameter data and surface pattern data thereof coincide with those of genuine coins of a certain denomination and when the magnetic data acquired from the counterfeit coin are similar to those of coins of the denomination.
Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 8-36661 discloses a coin discriminating apparatus in which magnetic data indicating magnetic properties of coins are produced by a magnetic sensor and coin optical data, i.e. diameter data and surface pattern data, are produced based on image data produced by an optical sensor, thereby discriminating whether a coin is acceptable and the denomination of a coin when the coin is discriminated to be acceptable in accordance with the magnetic data, the diameter data and the surface pattern data of the coin.
However, only a single kind of reference magnetic data are assigned to each denomination of coins in this coin discriminating apparatus. Therefore, in the case where optical data acquired from a counterfeit coin, such as diameter data and surface pattern data thereof, coincide with those acquired from coins of a certain denomination and when the magnetic data acquired from the counterfeit coin are similar with those of coins of the denomination, it is difficult to accurately discriminate the counterfeit coin.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a coin discriminating apparatus capable of accurately discriminating a counterfeit coin even when optical data acquired from the counterfeit coin such as diameter data and surface pattern data thereof coincide with those of genuine coins of a certain denomination and when the magnetic data acquired from the counterfeit coin are similar to those of coins of the denomination.
The above and other objects of the present invention can be accomplished by a coin discriminating apparatus comprising magnetic sensor means for detecting magnetic properties of a coin being transported and producing magnetic data of the coin, optical sensor means for producing optical data of the coin, reference optical data storing means for storing reference optical data of an obverse surface and a reverse surface of coins of each denomination, reference magnetic data storing means for storing reference magnetic data of an obverse surface and a reverse surface of coins of each denomination to be discriminated, first coin discriminating means for comparing optical data of the coin produced by the optical sensor means with reference optical data of an obverse surface and a reverse surface of coins of each denomination and determining whether or not the coin is acceptable and the denomination of the coin, and second coin discriminating means for reading from the reference magnetic data storing means magnetic reference data selected depending upon whether reference optical data of the obverse surface of a coin of a certain denomination or those of the reverse surface of the coin of the denomination were used when the first coin discriminating means determined the coin to be acceptable and the denomination of the coin based thereon and comparing them with the magnetic data produced by the magnetic sensor means, thereby finally discriminating whether or not the coin is acceptable and the denomination of the coin.
The present invention is based on the findings that magnetic data of a coin detected by a reflection type magnetic sensor in which a transmitting coil and a receiving coil are on the same side of the coin differ, depending upon whether the obverse surface of the coin or the reverse surface thereof has been detected, according to the raised and depressed patterns of the obverse surface and the reverse surface of the coin, that magnetic data of a coin detected by a transmission type magnetic sensor in which a transmitting coil and a receiving coil are on the different sides of the coin differ depending upon the distance between the transmitting coil and the coin, and that the magnetic data of the coin are therefore different, depending upon whether the obverse surface or the reverse surface of the coin has been detected, according to the raised and depressed patterns of the obverse surface and the reverse surface of the coin.
According to the present invention, whether or not a coin is acceptable and the denomination of the coin are detected by the first coin discriminating means and the second coin discriminating means reads from the reference magnetic data storing means magnetic reference data selected depending upon whether reference optical data of the obverse surface of a coin of a certain denomination or those of the reverse surface of the coin of the denomination were used when the first coin discriminating means determined the coin to be acceptable and the denomination of the coin based thereon and compares them with the magnetic data produced by the magnetic sensor means, thereby finally discriminating whether or not the coin is acceptable and the denomination of the coin. Therefore, it is possible to accurately discriminate a counterfeit coin even when optical data of the counterfeit coin, such as diameter data and surface pattern data thereof, coincide with those of coins of a certain denomination and when the magnetic data acquired from the counterfeit coin are similar to those of coins of the denomination.
In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the magnetic sensor means comprises at least one transmitting coil and receiving coil pair and the members of the at least one transmitting coil and receiving coil pair are disposed on the same side of a coin being transported.
In another preferred aspect of the present invention, the magnetic sensor means comprises at least one transmitting coil and receiving coil pair and the members of the at least one transmitting coil and receiving coil pair are disposed on the different sides of a coin being transported.
In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the optical sensor means comprises a light source for emitting light toward one surface of the coin and light receiving means for photoelectrically receiving light emitted from the light source and reflected by the one surface of the coin and producing image pattern data of the one surface of the coin.
In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the image pattern data include data relating to diameter of the coin and pattern data and the reference optical data include reference data relating to diameters of coins of each denomination to be discriminated and reference pattern data of obverse surfaces and reverse surfaces of coins of each denomination and the coin discriminating apparatus further includes pattern data storing means for storing image pattern data.
In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the first coin discriminating means is adapted for comparing the data relating to diameter of the coin stored in the pattern data storing means and the reference data relating to diameter of coins of each denomination stored in the reference optical data storing means, thereby determining the denomination of the coin, reading the reference pattern data of obverse surfaces and reverse surfaces of coins of each denomination from the reference optical data storing means and comparing them with image pattern data of the coin stored in the pattern data storing means, thereby discriminating whether or not the coin is acceptable and the denomination of the coin, and the second coin discriminating means is adapted for reading from the reference magnetic data storing means magnetic reference data selected depending upon whether reference pattern data of the obverse surface of a coin of a certain denomination or those of the reverse surface of the coin of the denomination were used when the first coin discriminating means determined the coin to be acceptable and the denomination of the coin based thereon and comparing them with the magnetic data produced by the magnetic sensor means, thereby finally discriminating whether or not the coin is acceptable and the denomination of the coin.
In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the optical sensor means comprises a first light source for emitting light toward one surface of the coin, first light receiving means for photoelectrically receiving light emitted from the first light source and reflected by the one surface of the coin and producing image pattern data of the one surface of the coin, first pattern data storing means for storing the image pattern data of the one surface of the coin produced by the first light receiving means, a second light source for emitting light toward the other surface of the coin, second light receiving means for photoelectrically receiving light emitted from the second light source and reflected by the other surface of the coin and producing image pattern data of the other surface of the coin, and second pattern data storing means for storing the image pattern data of the other surface of the coin produced by the second light receiving means, the reference optical data storing means being adapted for storing reference pattern data of obverse surfaces and reverse surfaces of coins of each denomination, the first coin discriminating means includes first discriminating means for comparing the image pattern data of the one surface of the coin stored in the first pattern data storing means with the reference pattern data of obverse surfaces and reverse surfaces of coins of each denomination stored in the reference optical data storing means and determining whether or not the coin is acceptable and the denomination of the coin, second discriminating means for comparing the image pattern data of the other surface of the coin stored in the second pattern data storing means with the reference pattern data of obverse surfaces and reverse surfaces of coins of each denomination stored in the reference optical data storing means and determining whether or not the coin is acceptable and the denomination of the coin, and third discriminating means for determining whether or not the coin is acceptable and the denomination of the coin based on the results of discrimination made by the first discriminating means and the second discriminating means, the second coin discriminating means is adapted for reading from the reference magnetic data storing means reference magnetic data which correspond to the denomination of coin discriminated by the third discriminating means and which correspond to the coin surface used by whichever of the first discriminating means and the second discriminating means discriminated the denomination of the coin based on the image pattern data of a surface on the side of the transmitting coil of the magnetic sensor, and comparing them with the magnetic data of the coin produced by the magnetic sensor, thereby finally discriminating whether or not the coin is acceptable and the denomination of the coin.
According to this further preferred aspect of the present invention, the first coin discriminating means includes first discriminating means for comparing the image pattern data of the one surface of the coin stored in the first pattern data storing means with the reference pattern data of obverse surfaces and reverse surfaces of coins of each denomination stored in the reference optical data storing means and determining whether or not the coin is acceptable and the denomination of the coin, second discriminating means for comparing the image pattern data of the other surface of the coin stored in the second pattern data storing means with the reference pattern data of obverse surfaces and reverse surfaces of coins of each denomination stored in the reference optical data storing means and determining whether or not the coin is acceptable and the denomination of the coin, and third discriminating means for determining whether or not the coin is acceptable and the denomination of the coin based on the results of discrimination made by the first discriminating means and the second discriminating means, and since the first coin discriminating means determines whether or not the coin is acceptable and the denomination of the coin based on the image pattern data of both surfaces of the coin and the second coin discriminating means reads the reference magnetic data of a coin from the reference magnetic data memory based on the denomination of the coin determined by the third discriminating means, the second coin discriminating means can discriminate whether or not the coin is acceptable and the denomination of the coin based on the reference magnetic data of a proper denomination and it is possible to improve the coin discriminating efficiency. Further, since the second coin discriminating means reads, based on the image pattern data of the surface of the coin on the side of the transmitting coil of the magnetic sensor, reference magnetic data of a surface of a coin corresponding to the coin surface used by whichever of the first discriminating means or the second discriminating means discriminated the denomination of the coin, thereby discriminating whether or not the coin is acceptable and the denomination of the coin, it is possible to accurately discriminate a counterfeit coin even when optical data acquired from the counterfeit coin, such as diameter data and surface pattern data thereof, coincide with those of coins of a certain denomination and when the magnetic data of the counterfeit coin are similar to those of coins of the denomination.
In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the image pattern data include data relating to coin diameter and pattern data and the reference optical data include reference data relating to diameters of coins of all denominations and reference pattern data of obverse surfaces and reverse surfaces of coins of all denominations.
In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the first discriminating means is adapted for comparing the data relating to coin diameter stored in the first pattern data storing means with reference data relating to diameters of coins of all denominations stored in the reference optical data storing means, thereby determining the denomination of the coin, reading the reference pattern data of an obverse surface and a reverse surface of a coin of the thus determined denomination from the reference optical data storing means and comparing them with image pattern data stored in the first pattern data storing means, thereby discriminating whether or not the coin is acceptable and the denomination of the coin, and the second coin discriminating means is adapted for comparing the data relating to coin diameter stored in the second pattern data storing means with reference data relating to diameters of coins of all denominations stored in the reference optical data storing means, thereby determining the denomination of the coin, reading the reference pattern data of an obverse surface and a reverse surface of a coin of the thus determined denomination from the reference optical data storing means and comparing them with the image pattern data stored in the second pattern data storing means, thereby discriminating whether or not the coin is acceptable and the denomination of the coin.
In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the third discriminating means is adapted for discriminating that the coin is unacceptable when at least one of the first discriminating means and the second discriminating means determines that the coin is unacceptable, discriminating that the coin is unacceptable when the denomination of the coin determined by the first discriminating means and the denomination of the coin determined by the second discriminating means do not coincide with each other, and discriminating that the denomination of the coin coincides with the denomination determined by the first discriminating means and the second discriminating means when the denomination of the coin determined by the first discriminating means and the denomination of the coin determined by the second discriminating means coincide with each other, thereby outputting the denomination to the second coin discriminating means.
The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings.